iLingual

The iPhone app I’ve been working on got its official release today. It seems like ages ago that I actually worked on it though after a lengthy development process and arcane Apple approval process. I was involved at the beginning of the process after the initial creative idea had been generated. I was tasked with designing the interaction of the app using Apple guidelines. I built the wireframes and made recommendations on how it should be built to fall in line with iPhone best practices. I was also involved in overseeing the project through its creation. The team was sent to Paris for the day to test the app out on an unsuspecting Parisian audience and a video shot of our day. Feel free to download the app and let me know your thoughts. Rate it if you like it.

Get the French app here http://tiny.cc/ilingualapp (lite versions and German/Arabic also available – just search for iLingual in the app store)

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YouTube – Panasonic P905i Demo

YouTube – Panasonic P905i Demo.

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Microsoft Tag

Microsoft Tag

Wow. Two Microsoft posts in one week. They must be doing something right. Here they are again with an interesting technology called Tag. Originally called shotcodes or QR codes these are tiny squares that work like a bar code but is something that you can photograph with your phone and the technology in your phone interprets this and gets the information you are after. This could take the form of an email address, video or a URL. It’s great because often times it is difficult to write down something you’ve seen briefly on a poster or piece of packaging. This solves that issue. The technology has had many teething problems in its earlier incarnations. It’s taken off in Japan but then they pioneer all tech globally anyway. But if done right this Microsoft version could really help the tech take off as there are many phones these days out there with Windows mobile built in.

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Nokia viNe

Nokia viNe

Nokia viNe is a bit of technology built into the newer N series handsets that allows you to upload content on the fly. You can upload photos, videos or music. You need to activate the software but once done it will upload anything you listen to or anything you choose to document via photograph or video to the website. What is really special about this is that it tracks all of this information with geo-location data thus plotting the information onto a map. In this way you create your own journey which in turn becomes fascinating for the voyeurs amongst us to see people’s travels. It’s a way of making an imprint in a digital world. There is one serious flaw, however. You don’t actually upload the music listened to, only the track’s name and artist. I’m guessing this is to do with licensing issues. It would be much more interesting, I think, to view a movie/slideshow along with the soundtrack used to inspire it. But that’s just my two-pence worth.

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Casio Elixim W63CA

Finally a proper camera phone. I’ve been thinking that a device like this has to be released soon and here it is. Whilst other camera phones boast 5+ megapixels the reality is that these cameras are rubbish. It all comes down to the lens. Poor performance, slow shutter speed and rubbish flash all hinder most camera phones. But now Casio are set to take on the mobile phone market with their W63CA. The biggest difference here is that this is a camera that happens to also be a phone. Whereas all other products are phones foremost and cameras after this flips that model on its head. We have to start thinking of our devices as multi-media platforms anyway and this is a great device to do just that. Perfect for the person who takes a lot of photographs when out and wants to do away with two devices in their pocket.

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Sponge

Sponge are a company devoted to mobile and recently came into my work to give a talk about some of their insights into this world. I thought I’d share some of these with you.

• It is possible to track a mobile handset’s location when a user interacts with your mobile marketing campaign thus opening up a wealth of geo-location based advert ideas
• 70% of 11 year olds have a phone these days
• 80% of people sleep with their phone on
• Nokia sell more cameras than any other company in the world because of their camera phones
• Nokia sell more MP3 players than Apple due to the player on their phones
• A large proportion of people don’t wear a watch any more because they use their phone instead
• There will be terrestrial freeview TV on your phone within a year
• The ‘near field‘ chip will be in all new phones very soon allowing you to use your phone in the same way you do your oyster card
• Lots of people like to customize and modify their phones with some teenagers owning a second ’special’ phone for the weekend
• 12.00 to 18.00 is the peak time for phone usage and the most powerful time to get your SMS marketing message across

Here’s a few really nice examples of mobile marketing done well…

• Grolsch – coincidence : a short video that sends you a text at a very precise moment in the video
• Sarah Jane Chronicles – Terminate a mate : a customized video is sent to your friend which includes their name, phone number and a map of where their phone is located
• Royal Navy – Get the message : You can send a customized video to a friend that includes a person saying your name and has the name appear on screen within the video.

What is clear is that there are many ways to use phone marketing to reach your audience. It is all about keeping the message relevant and timely. It can be a really powerful medium or a way to integrate your campaign with new technology. This platform is really set to explode in the coming months and years as smart phones become obiquitous and people move away from thinking of the device as just a phone but more a multi-media mobile computing platform. The future’s bright…

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iPhone Nano anyone?

The shape of things to come????

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moto colours

Stroke of genius by motorola here. This is a gorgeous flash site designed to showcase the many colours in the moto range. You are presented with a floating colour palette whereby you can select one colour at a time. You then paint an animated selection of shapes and designs onto the canvas. The texture of the background is subtly a paper texture. The designs are bold and random and done in stunning vector art. Once you have created a design you get a chance to save and share the design. Or as a matter of navigation you get a dock of phones in all their colours at the bottom of the page which you can cycle through as you move your mouse to each end. Simple, elegant and entirely addictive.

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